Independent disability advocacy organisations – run by and for people with disability – from around Australia have shared appalling situations of abuse and neglect of people with disability.
A new report is laying bare shocking evidence of exclusion and discrimination against Australians with disability, leading disability advocates to call for urgent government action and reform.
The National Centre for Disability Advocacy (NCDA), a program delivered by Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA), has released its second annual Systemic Advocacy Insight Report, which sheds light on harms to people with disability across housing, guardianship, transport and child protection.
The report, informed by in-depth consultation with independent disability advocacy organisations nationwide, reveals alarming trends in housing insecurity and the suspected overuse of guardianship orders, taking away the rights of people with disability.
The report includes the following stories:
- A person with disability, while in the hospital, found out they’d been evicted from their home.
- Another person with disability was left waiting four hours for a wheelchair-accessible taxi, missing a funeral she was due to speak at.
- Disability service providers in Queensland and Western Australia are increasingly applying for guardianship orders for people with disability, which gives them control over making decisions for these people.
Other key findings include:
- Housing crisis: Advocacy organisations report a severe lack of affordable and accessible housing, forcing people with disability into precarious living situations. Many people on fixed incomes are excluded from the private rental market, while social housing waitlists stretch up to a decade. Most housing is inaccessible for people with disability.
- Guardianship concerns: Since the NDIS began in 2015, advocates have observed a sharp rise in guardianship applications, often initiated by disability providers. The report calls for a national review of guardianship laws, emphasising supported decision-making to ensure the rights of people with disability to have a say over their lives.
The report also highlights transport barriers and child protection inequities but stresses that chronic underfunding of systemic advocacy, capped at just 10% of National Disability Advocacy Program funding, limits the sector’s ability to drive change.
Waiting lists are also rising for help from disability advocacy organisations, with a recent DANA survey showing wait times now out to 12 weeks for people with disability.
“People with disability are being stripped of their rights under guardianship systems, while housing instability pushes us further to the margins,” DANA CEO El Gibbs said. “This report by the [NCDA] is a roadmap for policymakers to address these systemic failures and shows how hard independent disability advocacy organisations are working to change the lives of people with disability. It also reinforces the critical need for the federal government to address ongoing underfunding of systemic and individual advocacy to drive change across the community.”
Read also: Disability organisations launch federal election blueprint
Geraldine is currently the Content Producer for Third Sector, an Akolade channel. Throughout her career, she has written for various industries and international audiences. Her love for writing extends beyond the corporate world, as she also works as a volunteer writer at her local church. Aside from writing, she is also fond of joining fun runs and watching musicals.
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